


A Matter of Consent

by SonriaCat



Series: Tales from Winter Camp [22]
Category: Earth 2 (TV 1994)
Genre: 100 situations, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-03-16 23:15:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13646436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonriaCat/pseuds/SonriaCat
Summary: Danziger knows he can be a threat even without saying a word.Warning:discussion of consent issues, but no actual rape/non-con elements.





	A Matter of Consent

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Taste

At some point, Danziger knew, he probably should enlarge the airlock entry to the bio-dome. Human traffic jams happened there all the time, including right now when he was trying to go out while Devon was coming in. She was running late for breakfast, but based on the smell, there was still plenty remaining to go around. That was a good thing, given that for once it had been pretty tasty.

“Um,” she said, stepping to her left at the same time he stepped to his right. “Sorry.”

“Stay still,” he told her, stepping back to his left. That made just enough room for them to pass, though it was still uncomfortably close. It was also the reason he happened to see the bruises when he looked down at her. She’d wrapped a scarf around her neck, but it was loose at the top, leaving the oval-shaped purple marks underneath visible.

He caught Devon’s arm before she could finish passing. “Who did that to you?”

“Did what?” She avoided his eyes.

“Your neck. Someone had their hands on it in the last couple days. Why haven’t you said anything?”

She pulled the scarf tighter. “It’s fine.”

“Devon, someone had their hands on your neck. That’s not fine, and…” he trailed off, noticing something else, something that almost looked like… “is that a _bite mark?_ ”

She jerked away. “Don’t worry about it, Danziger.”

“Too bad. I’m already worried. Who did this to you,” he repeated, “and why haven’t you said anything?”

A flush crept across her cheeks. “It doesn’t matter.”

Understanding dawned, and with it came horror. “It was me, wasn’t it? I did something to you while that dead Terrian was inside of me. Why didn’t ’Lonz tell me about it?”

The flush grew darker. “He doesn’t know. Let it drop.”

“Damn it, I put my hands and mouth on you! _What did I do?_ ” It was only when the words came out that it hit him: the blush and refusal to meet his eyes, the exact pattern of the bruises and the placement of the bite mark. Given that he’d also discovered scratches across the backs of his shoulders…

“Oh, my God,” he choked, feeling his gorge rise. “I _didn’t._ ”

Now she met his eyes. “John. It’s all right.”

“But —”

She took a sharp breath. “It was consensual.”

_“What?”_

“It was consensual, Danziger. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get some food before it’s all gone, and you’re in my way.”

Numb, he let go of her arm and stumbled out of the airlock into the crisp morning air. He managed to make it around to the side before losing his breakfast completely. The foul-tasting bile burned his sinuses, but he ignored it. It was the least he deserved.

#

“You’re avoiding me.”

Danziger froze for a long moment, wondering how he could get out of the situation, before he gave up on any hope of convincing Devon she was wrong. She wasn’t. He had been avoiding her for the last three or four days.

Sighing, he closed his eyes, though he didn’t turn to face her. “It’s better this way.”

“For you or for me?”

“Adair, if I can’t be trusted —”

“How many times do I have to tell you?” she exploded. “It was consensual!”

Now he did turn around. “Keep your voice _down_ , damn it, unless you want the whole camp to hear about it!”

“Nobody else is here,” she snapped back. “And it wouldn’t be that shocking if they did. Do you really want to know just how big the pool about us is?”

He didn’t bother to tell her that, until their encounter with the ancient Terrian, he had made a point of getting regular updates from Alonzo. “This kind of situation doesn’t count. No, blast it, hear me out!” he continued. “I have fifty pounds and nearly an entire foot of height on you! If I’d been determined to…do something…you couldn’t have done anything about it. That wouldn’t make it consensual! It would only mean you hadn’t started a fight you couldn’t win.”

Her lips thinned. “You know, in all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never actually _condescended_ to me before.”

“It’s not condescending! It’s realistic.” His mother had had a long talk with him once, after he’d started developing some of the wrong ideas about girls. “When people are intimidated, they don’t always speak up. Which means that if a guy’s larger and stronger, he has to make _very_ sure —”

She made a disgusted sound. “That’s all well and good, Danziger, except the part where you aren’t actually listening to me. If I’d fought you, you’d have a lot more than a few scratches on your back!”

“But you have _bruises!_ ”

“So what? They happen sometimes.”

It felt like all the air had gone out of his lungs, and he had to catch his breath before he answered. “You’ve made it clear you’re not —”

She rolled her eyes. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re stuck over the winter in the middle of the wrong continent, counting the days until we can get back on our way across the rest of it. Now is not the time for me to be…” she trailed off. “Indulging myself.”

“Indulging yourself,” he repeated, incredulous.

She nodded. “Yeah. Indulging myself. Like this.” Pushing up to her toes, she pressed her lips against his. His eyes fell closed, and he was returning the kiss before he even completely realized it was happening.

When it was finished, she met his eyes again. “I didn’t _make very sure_ about that. Does that mean it wasn’t consensual?”

Danziger shook his head, still reeling.

“Exactly. Consent can be implied.” With that, she turned and left the bio-dome, but there was still an echo of her on his lips. He licked them and groaned.

She tasted exquisite.

And she was going to be the death of him.


End file.
